Fair Game
(Starring Naomi Watts, Sean Penn)
At the center of Fair Game is a subtle and amazing performance by Naomi Watts. Her talent exonerates a film that combines honest emotion with virulent political supposition, sloppily portraying it as Absolute Truth.
Watts is real-life character Valerie Plame, a CIA operative whose cover was blown by the Bush administration. Her diplomat husband, Joe Wilson (Penn), reported that Saddam Hussein had no WMDs, thus undercutting the buildup to war with Iraq. So someone in VP Dick Cheney’s office retaliated by leaking Plame’s undercover work. According to the film, as many as 70 of Plame’s co-operatives were killed as a result. When the leak was traced back to the White House, Cheney aide Scooter Libby took the fall, and President Bush then commuted his sentence.
Those infuriating facts are enough to carry any movie. In fact, it would have been a more fascinating story if some political vagueness had been allowed. But this flick, based on books by Plame and Wilson, has no interest in balance. Bush is a doofus, Cheney is a villain, and the Republican Party is the new Axis of Evil. This approach—especially Penn’s vitriol—means that the people who should see the movie will avoid it like a Keith Olbermann report.
Fair Game, though, shines in its quieter moments. Wilson’s very public anger conflicts with Plame’s devotion to her CIA career, and it almost tears their marriage apart. Watts’ silent, steely performance conveys complicated ideas that overcome the movie’s indignant op-ed moments.
Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows Part 1
(Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and almost every other living English actor)
We all knew that this blockbuster—the beginning of the end of the Potter series—was going to be a cliffhanger. Less expected: touching and emotional moments are few and far between in this ponderous slog of a film.
After the terrible tragedy that ended the last film—no spoilers here—Harry (Radcliffe) and friends Ron and Hermione (Grint and Watson) meander all over England to find the seven pieces of evil Lord Voldermort’s soul, destroying them to make the nefarious wizard mortal and thus killable.
The three compatriots must abandon family and friends to undertake their journey, and this can be heart wrenching. But then they mostly wander aimlessly, too young and confused to know what to do next. Harry, Hermione and Ron pop from one disconnected plot point to another, wearing everyone’s patience thin.
Standing alone, this film is little more than a placeholder; a set-up for the finale. As a part of the series, it’s a necessary evil for a whiz-bang ending.
It’s a good thing that the young cast members have magically developed into credible actors over the previous six films. The special effects are top quality and the action sequences—when they finally happen—are nifty. Part 1 founders by itself, but it will certainly make you crave Part 2 and the finale to this incredible story.
127 Hours
(Starring James Franco)
In early summer 2003, the freakish story of Aron Ralston made international news. Ralston was alone, exploring a remote Utah crevasse, when his arm became trapped between a bolder and the canyon wall. After nearly five days with limited supplies and no hope of being found, Ralston used a dull knife to slowly chop off his dead arm just below the elbow.
It’s terrifying, gruesome stuff, and director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting) doesn’t shy from it. And he understands our morbid fascination: Did Ralston have other options? How did he endure the pain and complete the unthinkable act of self-mutilation? What would we do in the same situation?
Ably played by James Franco, the genial but reckless Ralston provides most of his own answers. The 27-year-old always documented his solo trips into the wilderness on digital video. Franco’s goofy and heartfelt confessions ground the uncomfortable story.
With so much built-in-drama, it’s a little disheartening that Boyle doesn’t always let the story unwind at its own pace. The director’s frenetic ‘try-everything’ style is thrilling and fresh at first, but it never lets up. Ralston’s 127-hour ordeal begs for a gentler, less grotesque approach.
Still, the movie manages to ask the ugly questions, and we squirm as the painful answers come to light.
